Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $23.63 Million in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 144,956 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,628,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.45% of Balchem as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,234,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $217,224,000 after purchasing an additional 12,006 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 1.8% during the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,175,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $206,900,000 after purchasing an additional 20,360 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 3.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 928,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $163,514,000 after purchasing an additional 27,979 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 779,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,257,000 after purchasing an additional 12,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 944.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 497,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $87,559,000 after purchasing an additional 449,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCPC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sidoti upgraded shares of Balchem to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Balchem in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

Balchem Stock Up 1.2 %

BCPC stock opened at $174.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.28, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.69. Balchem Co. has a fifty-two week low of $137.69 and a fifty-two week high of $186.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.99. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $162.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.48.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $240.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.96 million. Balchem had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 11.37%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Balchem Co. will post 4.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Balchem Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $0.87 dividend. This is a positive change from Balchem’s previous annual dividend of $0.79. This represents a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Balchem’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.14%.

Balchem Profile

Balchem Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets specialty performance ingredients and products for the nutritional, food, pharmaceutical, animal health, medical device sterilization, plant nutrition, and industrial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Human Nutrition and Health, Animal Nutrition and Health, and Specialty Products.